Prof.

Alicia Hitos Pérez

-1º Bachillerato-

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 A group of words that
contains a subject and a
verb

Main Clause (Independent) Subordinate Clause (Dependent)

- It depends on an independent clause for its meaning.
- It expresses a complete thought/action.
- A clause that cannot stand by itself.
- It can stand by itself and still make sense (its independent).
- It can be its own sentence or be part of a larger one.
E.g. The man who is coaching that team is my
- It’s frequently the use of semi-colon (;) a comma (,) or a little
father.
conjunctions (but, and, or, nor, yet, too) and conjunctive adverbs
(however, moreover, as a result, nevertheless, consequently…)
- E.g. Simple Sentence: Jimmy wants to be the quarterback.
- E.g. Compound Sentence: Jimmy wants to be the quarterback
and Michael thinks he will be.

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A sentence that gives more information about a noun (person,
place, object, idea…) in the sentence. E.g.

He’s the man who scored the winning goal.

He’s the man that scored the winning goal.
The hotel which is in front of the beach is quite expensive.
The house where I live is in Granada.
The girl whose book a borrowed is in love with you.
It was the year when she married her husband.

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 Relative clauses can begin with the following words or RELATIVE PRONOUNS:
 WHO  person. The woman who is in
front of you smells of garlic.
 WHICH  animal, object. The phone
which is on the shelf is already broken.
 THAT  object, person. The man that
is in front of us talks too much. / The
door that doesn’t work will be fixed
tomorrow.
 WHOSE  indicates possession. The
man whose wallet was stolen is very
angry.
 WHEN  time. The month when we
met was very rainy.
 WHERE  place. The café where we
met is being torn down.
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• WHO It substitutes a person.

• WHICH It substitutes an animal or a thing.

• THAT It substitutes a person, an animal or a thing.

• WHOSE It substitutes a possession.

• WHEN It substitutes a time.

• WHERE It substitutes a place.

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 Read the following two sentences in Spanish…
What difference in the meaning can you observe?

The students who are

hardworking passed the
exam.

The students, who are

hardworking, passed the
exam.
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 Read the following two sentences in Spanish…
What difference in the meaning can you observe?

The students who are DEFINING CLAUSE

hardworking passed the “Oración especificativa”
exam.

The students, who are NON-DEFINING

hardworking, passed the CLAUSE
exam. “Oración explicativa”
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 Defining relative clauses (“oraciones especificativas”): Necessary
to the sentence, vital information. E.g.

The students who are hardworking passed the exam with no difficulties.

 Non-defining relative clauses (“oraciones explicativas”): Give extra

information about the noun. E.g.

The students, who are hardworking, passed the exam with no difficulties.

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 Defining relative clauses (The students who are hardworking passed
the exam with no difficulties) 
- We don’t use commas.
- The relative pronouns can function as a subject or as an object
of the subordinate sentence (e.g. That’s the boy who I met
yesterday/ That’s the boy whom I met yesterday***).
- When the relative pronouns function as an object you can omit
who, which, when, & that (e.g. That’s the boy I met yesterday)
- You can substitute who & which by that (e.g. That’s the boy that
I met yesterday).
*** Both sentences mean the same, but the 2nd one with “whom” is for formal language. It is used
when “who” functions as an object of the subordinate sentence. 9
Non-defining relative clauses (The students, who are
hardworking, passed the exam with no difficulties) 

- We use commas.
- Formed with who, which, where, when & whose.
NEVER “THAT”.

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